Cryptid
by Buttons579
Summary: In which Honeymaren has a crush, but it so happens to be on the incredibly dense ice-lady-of-the-woods, because nothing can ever be easy. [Elsa/Honeymaren, fluff]
1. Chapter 1

When she was a little girl, Honeymaren listened to stories about the creatures of the forest. There were cryptids of all sorts – the earth giants, whom they feared, and the invisible elementals of fire, water and wind, whose shapes the stories could never agree on. Werewolves, witches, fae, trolls, beings of every type lurking behind the trees, ready to pounce at any inattentive northuldran child.

Maren had a healthy amount of respect for magical beings. She was also, by far and large, the most extroverted person in a tribe of mostly quiet, introspective bunch who tended to like reindeers better than people. Her brother liked to joke around that she could befriend anyone and anything.

And so it was no surprise that she was, by unspoken yet unanimous agreement, chosen as the one to approach – and keep an eye on – the Fifth Spirit of legend. And while she could indeed get close to most people, as it turned out, Elsa was a whole new kind of puzzle.

"Maren."

She turned. It was unusual of Elsa to start a conversation. Maren watched her from the corner of her eye, crouched near where the rubble of what was once the Great Dam met the water. "Yes?"

Elsa was staring at the river, brows furrowed. She approached things with the focus of a hunting hawk, Maren had noticed in the brief time they'd been friends. It was one of the few things she knew about Elsa. Maren had met walled-off people before, but Elsa's stoicism was in a category of its own.

"Look." Face impassive. No change in expression. She was as hard to read as one of the Earth Giants – harder still, because Maren could guess their motives but not Elsa's. "What do you call that one?"

She approached the margin. She had a hypothesis not that Elsa could particularly see further than a normal person, but rather that she had an intrinsic sense of living things, particularly those in water.

Enhanced vision or not, the target of her attention was easy to see and easier still to identify. "That's a pink snapper."

"I've never seen one of those in Arendelle."

The fish splashed its tail, lazily swimming downstream. "Maybe The Mist kept them in. They make for good roasts." She paused, let Elsa resume her walk and followed. "I'll let you know, the next time we hold a celebration. So you can have a taste."

A nod. The hint of a smile, there and gone almost too fast to be noticed. "Thank you."

They moved in silence for a while longer. Maren let it stretch between them so that it progressed from something awkward into something comfortable. Elsa was a quiet one, the type who would fit right in with the rest of the tribe, really, but she didn't know that yet because she was too skittish to meet everyone else.

Maren couldn't help but compare her temper to those she knew were blood related to her: an aunt. A pair of twin cousins. A grandmother, long passed. But Elsa hadn't asked, and so Maren didn't push it upon her, so she could take her time. Maren wasn't even quite sure how blood relations worked with beings such as her, save that her sisterly bond to Anna knew no bounds.

"Maren?"

_Unusually talkative today,_ she noted, and sped up her step to catch up with her. "Yes?"

"Thank you. For, you know. Showing me around." Silence. Maren tilted her head but waited. She found that Elsa was one to think before she spoke, and that thinking often took a while. "I appreciate… you not being scared of me."

_Ah. So this is what this is about. _Maren smiled. "You _are_ a little scary."

For a split second, her façade broke, eyes widening at the unexpected answer. Then silence again, much longer this time. "Then I appreciate the honesty, at least."

Maren laughed, and Elsa turned to her. "It's only natural," Maren pushed her hands into her pockets. "Anything as beautiful as you causes this sort of… existential fear." She punctuated the sentence with a sly smirk, taking Elsa's hand. Elsa needed time, time to process, time to reply, and Maren took advantage of that knowledge to tug her ahead, not giving her a chance to protest.

When they stopped, a bit winded, Maren's grin widened and she shielded her eyes with her hand. They were on top of a rocky formation, just high enough that she could see above the whole forest. She turned back to help Elsa up, but realized she had already climbed newly-made ice stairs.

"Maren, what the –"

"Look," she offered a hand anyway, and Elsa took it on reflex. Maren sat down, pulled Elsa with her. "I used to come here every day. To try and see past The Mist. It was the first place I came to when it was gone. Turns out you get to see the most beautiful sunsets." She tracked the sun with her eyes. "Shouldn't take long."

" – Oh." Elsa looked around, took in the view, eyes briefly drifting to where their hands touched. She pulled away. Maren gave her space. "I see what you mean," she spoke after a while, when red hues had crawled over the trees like a wave of fire. "Makes one feel really small, doesn't it?"

"It's not a bad feeling," Maren crossed her legs at the ankles and stared at the sky. "Gives me perspective. Reminds me of what's important." When the wind buffeted her face, she closed her eyes.

"Is that how I make you feel?"

"Mm." She opened one eye, peeked at Elsa, found her as stone-faced as always. "Not quite. With you it's… something else. Another kind of concern."

"What does that mean?" There was a certain vulnerability in her voice, the slightest waiver in pitch. She exhaled. "Maren, please."

_Sometimes, she feels like just a woman,_ Maren punched her lightly on the shoulder. The eagerness to please, the fear of rejection, the layers and layers of self-sabotage disguised as self-preservation. "C'mon. Don't make me say it."

Elsa opened her mouth. Closed it. Broke eye contact and stared off into the distance. Her jaw tensed ever so slightly. There was a chill in the air, a gust a couple degrees too cold. Her hair flowed like liquid against the wind. "I don't know what you mean. But you don't have to say it if it makes you uncomfortable."

_Sometimes, though, she feels like something else. _

The back-and-forth dance between too close and out of her grasp, that was the terrifying thing.

"You just look like a real heartbreaker."

Elsa turned to face her, fast enough that Maren could hear the movement. Her eyes were cold, hard ice. She licked her lips, stared at her with that intensity, the hawk-gaze that brought her goosebumps in delightful trepidation, a predator about to pounce and one could never know whether it was for play or for the kill. This was a woman who'd frozen the ocean over, a woman who'd tamed the elementals of myth with the ease Maren would tame a reindeer, a woman who was all the bedtime stories Maren's grandparents told her in the flesh.

Elsa looked at her, but said nothing.

Maren exhaled. She searched Elsa's expression for an answer, but as usual, found none. A flock of birds beat their wings, dissipating the tension in the air. Maren realized her heart was racing.

"Have you ever seen those?" She pointed at the birds with her chin. Elsa followed her gaze. "They're nightjars. They come out during twilight."

"Yes. We have those in Arendelle, too." Her tone carried profound melancholy and something Maren couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe Elsa was just tired. Maybe it was sadness. "It is a good spot. Thank you for showing me."

"Thank you for coming, even though I didn't give you that much of a choice." It was a lie. Elsa could have stopped her. They both knew it. "I'll let you know where we're going next time. I know you don't like surprises. But this was just… I guess it was a surprise for me, too. I didn't plan on bringing you here."

"I'm glad you did." She offered a small, rare smile, then broke eye contact. "And I appreciate the thought. It feels like you know me well."

The irony of it wasn't lost on her. "I just pay attention. But you're hard to read."

"I don't mean to be. It's just… how I was taught, I suppose." She hugged her own knees, rested her chin on top of them. "Feelings make me anxious."

_She didn't get it,_ the realization struck Maren like lightning. Elsa didn't cut her down but didn't encourage her. She didn't, in fact, react to the hints thrown at her at all, as if she couldn't quite read between the lines. Maren had to bite down the urge to break into mildly hysterical giggles. _By the spirits, she didn't get it. _

She snorted, raised her head to look at the stars. They were beautiful and bright, better than anything she could have imagined when the Mist covered the sky and the elders told her about the specks of light in the black night. "Just take your time with them. Let them wash over you. Feel them. You don't have to do anything about them, just… feel them. They aren't that scary."

"Everything you just said sounded utterly terrifying."

Maren laughed. "It'll come to you, eventually. There's no rush."

"Hopefully I won't freeze over another kingdom or awaken any more spirits in the meantime." She smiled again. Her sense of humor, Maren noticed, was either acid and cunning or self-deprecating.

"Good things came out of it, both times." Maren didn't have the whole of the story, hadn't asked Elsa for her version yet, but she knew enough to make educated guesses. "You exposed a horrible man. Saved your sister from a bad marriage and helped her meet the love of her life. Bonded with her. And then you helped us get rid of that dam monstrosity. Set us free again, in balance with the spirits."

"When you put it like that, I almost sound like I knew what I was doing."

"No one ever does." Maren saw her relax, brushed their fingers together again. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

Elsa half-turned to her, and this time the lazy smile and half-lidded eyes painted a picture that was almost sly. Maren reconsidered her previous assumption. Perhaps the message _had_ gotten through. "I'm glad I met you, too. You've been kind. I'm grateful that you're so welcoming." She scrunched her face. "That's enough feelings for today, I think."

"That's – not how it works. Not how any of this works."

Elsa laughed, unexpectedly, and Maren found herself beaming in return, warmth rushing to her cheeks. "It'll work how I want it to work." She raised her index finger. "Beat me to the coast, and I'll allow myself one more feeling. Only one."

"It'll be the feeling of your crushing defeat," Maren jumped to her feet. "Hey! No ice powers! That's cheating!"

Maren couldn't keep the smile off her face when as she climbed down the rock. By the time her feet touched the ground, Elsa was already long gone.

_What am I getting myself into?_ She wondered for the hundredth time.

And then she broke into a run for the coast.


	2. Chapter 2

There were a lot of things about Elsa that were hard to understand. Some, Maren thought as consequences of her mythical nature. It was those Ryder whispered about, wide eyed, whenever he caught glimpses of her through the forest, voice breaking into songs that turned the dew on the leaves into crystals of ice.

But as fascinating as those displays of magic were, it was the familiarity between them that really caught Maren's attention, the humanity in her actions, the things which gave Maren hints about the person Elsa had been and how that turned her into person she had become. And so it was that as they walked away from the village and towards whatever frozen castle Elsa had been living on those days, Maren saw the opportunity to ask a question which had been eating away at her.

"How come you've cooled down to me?" She found amusement in the words as soon as she spoke them. "I mean, it is fitting, don't get me wrong, but I'd like to understand it," she matched Elsa's pace so they were side by side, "If you allow me."

Elsa frowned, which was more or less the most facial expression Maren got out of her when they were alone. "What do you mean?"

"We're friends, aren't we? At least I think we're friends. We do friend things together. I enjoy your company." The idea was coming out way more convoluted than Maren would have liked, but she kept going. "So, friends?"

Elsa nodded way too fast, way too eager, and Maren had to bite back a smirk. "Friends."

"But most people warm up to their friends, you know," she gesticulated vaguely, "When they have a cold exterior, it's to strangers, and as you get to know them better they show up all their warm mushy feelings. See where I'm going?"

"…no?"

"You smile a lot when you're around everyone else," she shrugged. "Laugh and dance and hug the children. But when it's just the two of us you're… different. Quieter. Reserved. Not that there's anything wrong with that," Maren quickly added, "It just got me wondering, that's all."

"Oh." They walked in silence for a while, Maren following her lead between the woods. Sometimes, Elsa would take her to places she'd never been, even though she'd lived in the forest much longer. "They need me to smile."

_She speaks a lot with few words,_ Maren noticed, but the meaning wasn't lost on her. The perception of external fear, the alienation, the non-threatening façade she wore. In a crooked way, it was a good thing that Elsa felt comfortable enough to be cold around her.

"Do you need me to be warmer, too?"

The question felt genuine, concerned. "Only if you really mean it. I don't mind the frosty persona." She smiled. "Makes whatever feelings I get all the more worth it."

Elsa broke eye contact and didn't reply. Maren waited, let her take her time. "Who's to say they're wrong?"

"Huh?"

"For being cautious. Afraid, even." Elsa rubbed her hands together. "Maybe they're right, and you're just really reckless."

"You bet I am. I am very proud of that." Maren kicked a stray pile of leaves. As they got further into autumn, they were starting to accumulate. "We've had this talk before. I'm not afraid of your ice powers or your elemental friends. Well, maybe the earth giants. Those guys are massive. But you? You're fine."

Elsa turned her face away. Maren caught herself unconsciously tracing the shape of her neck with her eyes. "You don't know me."

"I know as much of you as you'll let me," she countered, refused to back down. "You're very much capable of harm, don't get me wrong. You know that more than anyone. But you're also unwilling to hurt. That's way better, I think, than being unaware. Because you know what you can do, you can choose not to do it."

Elsa stopped walking and turned to her, eyes wide, the look of a cornered animal. "I –"

"Let me tell you when you scare me," Maren stopped walking. "You scare me when you vanish for weeks without warning, and all I hear from you is your voice chanting lullabies that are _so sad_. You scare me on nights when hail knocks on the tents, not because I fear your magic but because I wonder why you're hurting so." She took a step, shortened the distance between them and grabbed her hand. "And when I touch you, and for a moment you lean into it, and then you catch yourself and recoil," She held Elsa's gaze, "When you're here and then you're not. That scares me a lot, Elsa."

Elsa bowed her head, stared at where their fingers touched. Her skin was cold, almost cold enough to hurt, and when she pulled her hand back, Maren let her slip away. "I have to go," she said, and didn't wait for an answer.

_Sometimes as fierce as a mountain lion, sometimes as sharp as a snow fox, sometimes as flighty as a rabbit. _

There in a moment, gone the next. Maren felt something cool brush against her nape, making her skin crawl with goosebumps. When she touched it, her fingers came back damp. She raised her head to the sky, watched snowflakes float down and cover the ground where Elsa had been.

_The weather tells me more about how you feel than you ever do,_ she thought, and pulled her coat closer to her body to protect her against the chilly wind. _I wonder if this is how you weep?_

Maren put her hands in her pockets to warm them and made her way back to the village, shivering.

* * *

Maren left a basket of fruit in the woods every day, whenever Elsa went missing. Whether she needed to eat at all was something Maren wasn't quite sure, but the food was always gone the next day and she was careful enough to hang it on high branches so that animals couldn't get to it.

After a week of that, Maren decided to leave the basket with a note. Simple and to the point was the way of dealing with Elsa, after all.

_"Sorry if I pushed you too far,"_ she scribbled, and then after a though, added "_Miss you._"

She was tending to the reindeer when Elsa materialized from a gust of wind and melancholy. Maren didn't turn around when she felt the cold, kept on brushing Velvet's fur.

"I got your message," Elsa said after a long while in which Maren could feel her eyes drilling a hole on her back. There was no reason for her to be nervous – nothing in the note was particularly incriminating – but she still felt her heart skip a beat.

"And?"

"I can't read Northruldan."

"Oh." Thinking back to it, Maren should have considered that possibility. She felt silly. "I – It's nothing important." She gave the reindeer a light slap on the leg to let him know she was done, then turned around. "Good to have you back."

"Yes, I…" She didn't make eye contact but took Maren's hand, cheeks tinted red and fingers trembling. Maren saw her jaw set in determination, saw her raise her gaze so that Maren could look at that piercing blue. "I'm sorry."

"And you're not going to run away the next time I remind you that you have feelings?"

Silence. Elsa's blush got a little deeper, but she didn't look away. "No promises."

Maren snorted. "It's all right." She traced the side of Elsa's hand with her thumb. "Witches of the Woods do things like that, sometimes."

Elsa tilted her head, but didn't pull away. That was turning out to be the longest physical contact they've shared. "Is that what I am?"

"That is for you to say," Maren turned around without letting go. She scanned the edge where the trees met the open field for the rest of her reindeer flock. "Damn it. Velvet and Sneezy are fine, but Sassy never shows up to get brushed, and she's the one who gets the dirtiest. I swear she rolls on grass on purpose. I wonder where that bastard of a reindeer is."

"How do you keep track of them?"

"I've known them all my life, so it's easy for me to tell who is who by the shape of their antlers and the shades of their furs." Maren shrugged. "They come and go as they see fit, but they're usually around because I keep them fed and warm."

"Wouldn't it be easier to keep them in pens?"

"Nah." Maren turned back to her. "You don't trap the things you love. Particularly not those which were born wild." She half-smiled, stared into her eyes for longer than it was polite. "You let them run free, and if your love is good for them, they'll come back to you."

Elsa smiled back at her, unexpectedly, and Maren's heart did a little flip. When she pulled her hand away, Maren took a long, deep breath. "I heard from Anna."

"Is that so?"

Elsa started walking toward the middle of the plains, and Maren followed after a bit of hesitation. "Yes. I'm going to be an aunt."

"Congratulations." She grinned. "If the little tykes have half as much energy as your sister, she's going to be in trouble. _You_ are going to be in trouble, because you bet she's going to have you babysitting."

Elsa laughed, a delightful sound that made her think of running rivers in spring. "I always thought I was the odd one out, you know," she sat down on the grass, raised her head to the sky. "But it turns out Anna is the maniac pixie in a family of quiet ice-chippers."

Maren took a seat next to her. "Kristoff is a quiet ice-chipper, too. They might turn out fine."

"Mmh. They might turn out a little too interested in reindeers."

"Hey!"

Elsa chuckled again. Maren waited, because she knew Elsa hardly brought things up without a goal, and she had yet to see the whole meaning of the topic. "I also mentioned what you called me, the other day. A heartbreaker."

Maren felt her heart leap off her chest. Elsa might be oblivious, but her sister was anything but. "What did she say about it?"

"She called me a 'thick-headed dense idiot,' among a multitude of other expletives."

"Uh..." Maren's cheeks burned. She appreciated Anna's support, really did, but she also had no idea what to reply to that. "Witches of the Woods are like that, sometimes."

Elsa grinned but didn't reply, instead closing her eyes. She started humming. Maren felt a vibration in her body, as if the very air around her reacted to the sound. And then ice began to form around her, plaques that spread from the ground and produced spikes that took shape.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah," Elsa whispered, and the ragged edges spread and grew into the shape of trees, branches that split into twos and fours and eights with every note, until they were surrounded by a hauntingly beautiful forest. "Ah-ah-ah-ah," Elsa repeated, and from the branches sprouted pines of crystal, and the ground exploded into sharp blades of grass and delicate flowers.

Maren inhaled, watched the magic unfold. "Hmm-hmm-hmm," Elsa dropped the pitch, and the trunks of the trees got wider, branches melting together until they no longer looked like trees, but rather like walls. "Hmm-hmm-hmm," intricate shapes carved themselves on the walls as they grew into spires that reached into the sky. The walls met one another, forming a castle that surrounded them and filled itself with spiraling staircases and chandeliers that spread the light into rainbows.

Elsa opened her eyes.

The structure exploded into a million snowflakes that were swept away by the wind. Maren followed their spirals with wide eyes, gaping, acutely aware of Elsa's burning stare and crooked smile.

_Did you do this just so you could see the wonder in my face? _

She considered asking it, but chose silence. Elsa bumped their shoulders together.

"Maren?"

There was something sharp about her tone that made Maren turn. "Yes?"

"What did your note say?"

_This is the queen_, she realized, from the way her chin was lifted and her gaze was penetrating. There were many sides to Elsa, like edges in fractals of ice revealed at will. And what Maren was facing right then was the person who demanded rather than asked, who would not take 'no' for an answer, who would freeze the ocean over rather than cross it on a boat just because she had the power to. "It said sorry for being pushy. And…"

"And?"

"And that I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Elsa replied, and then she had one hand around Maren's waist and the other on her nape and their lips were pressed together. Elsa kissed her, fierce, starting on the corner of Maren's mouth and moving to the middle. She pressed her weight over Maren's body, deepened the kiss with teeth grazing over her lips. Her skin was cold yet her breath was surprisingly warm, and when her fingers ghosted over Maren's spine, she shivered.

Elsa pulled away with as little warning as she had given when she started, leaving Maren's heart drumming. Her ears, her cheeks, her whole face burned. "Elsa –"

"I have to go," she said, smiling so wide it wrinkled the corners of her eyes. "Not for long. But for a while." She looked away, tipped her head. Maren could still see the grin on her face, even from that angle. "I'll come back to you."

"I – " she blinked, still stunned. "I'll leave you some fruits. Same place. Same, uh. Same basket."

"I like the raspberries and the plums the most," Elsa stood, extended her arm and sung a single high pitched note. Out of thin air, Nokk materialized, galloping, and Elsa grabbed onto his neck as he passed, the splashes of his hooves matching her exquisite laughter as she rode into the woods.

_Raspberries and plums,_ Maren repeated in her mind, committed the items to memory. She stood, dusted snow from her pants and started walking towards the village. She could swear the reindeer were smiling at her on her way home.

They were smart creatures. Maybe they knew.

_Raspberries and plums. _


	3. Chapter 3

It was bound to happen someday. Honeymaren knew it, rationally. But as she walked the streets of Arendelle towards the castle, startled every single time she heard the clanging of armor, she couldn't stop herself from mentally complaining.

_This is what you get,_ she dodged a speeding cart pulled by reindeer, _this is what you get when you don't resist the seduction of mythical creatures. _

Not that Arendelle was a bad place – Maren knew she was being unreasonable – but it was filled with, well, _arendellians_, and she couldn't help but feel a target on her face when anyone as much as looked her way. And there way too many people. It was suffocating.

"I won't be here forever," she mimicked Yelana's voice, "You'll lead them when I'm gone, Maren. You should make good diplomatic decisions, Maren." She looked around, lost. It was a fortunate thing that the castle was so damn big, because she doubted she could stop herself from turning back if it went out of sight. "Gods-cursed, thrice-blasted, stupid, stupid place."

Her footsteps against the stone-paved ground were stressful. The walls of the houses, rising every corner, were stressful. The sounds of talking merchants was stressful. Every time a child screamed she almost jumped off her skin.

_I am so f-cking stressed, _she concluded, grouchy. She sped her step, but just a little in order not to let her anxiety show. It was important to keep appearances on enemy territory, even if she kept trying not to think of them as enemies. They were Elsa's people, and by extension, her people, despite how her body seemed to disagree.

When she arrived at the castle doors, she was stopped by a pair of guards, because of course there would be guards, _that is the whole point of a castle, Maren –_

Slowly, deliberately, she dusted her shoulders and lifted her chin, then looked at the closest of the men. "I need to speak with the queen."

"Do you have an appointment?"

Maren sized them up. Considered whether she could take them down, if she had to. They were larger, but she was fast and a blow on the right place could do a shocking amount of damage. "I have a message from her sister."

The guards exchanged a look that carried more than just concern – there was a weird reverence to the way their eyes widened, a mixture of fear and mysticism, the same way Ryder would look whenever she brought Elsa up. It was soothing, in a way, and a little bit of the tension rolled off her shoulders.

"Follow me." The guards led her to the empty throne room. One of them went inside to call Anna while the other stayed behind with her, and it did not escape her that he kept his hand on his sword all the time.

"Oh, Maren!" From the doorway, Anna clapped her hands together in pure delight. A second later, Maren had the air knocked out of her lungs by a hug that almost made her fall down. Anna grabbed her hands, hopping from one foot to the other. "It is so good to see you!" She scanned the room. "Where's Elsa?"

"She couldn't come." Anna's expression turned to concern, and Maren was quick to reassure her. "She's fine. She just had some… magical spirit things to do. I don't know the details."

Ana clicked her tongue, then pulled Maren by the hands. "That makes sense." She stopped on her tracks, turned around to the guards, "Thank you, Bernt, Erik, you may go," and resumed dragging Maren inside. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes."

"When I said Kristoff was off on family business, I didn't mention he was needed for… whatever a family of trolls needs their adopted son for in the first spring equinox of the decade. But I should have known Elsa would have some magical thing to do, too." Anna shook her head. "I'm not being rude, by the way, I meant actual, literal trolls. Lovely people."

_The energy of this woman, _Maren blinked, her brain still catching up with Anna's fast-spoken words. Maren was a people person, sure, but that usually meant _she_ was the one doing all the talking. "Actual trolls," she repeated. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."

"Right?! My sister is a spirit. My in-laws are trolls. Just a normal day for Anna." Anna opened the door to a large bedroom. "You didn't have to come. Dramatic letters aside, I get plenty of help. Agnarr is a lovely boy, anyway. A quiet, peaceful child. Very unlike me." She smirked. "Reminds me a bit of Elsa, actually."

"Agnarr. Like your father."

"Yes. Seemed fitting." The boy in question was lying on his crib, fast asleep, drooling on a toy. "Sleeps like a log, too." He had a mop of red hair on his head, but the nose was his father's.

Maren caught herself smiling at the baby. "Well… it's not just about the help though, is it? Sometimes it's also about the company. Being a mom is tough and maybe you just need to talk." She shrugged. "I'm not your sister, but I can listen."

Anna beamed at her. She was warm, giddy even, and filled the silence between them with ease. "Exactly! Oh gods, it's so good to have someone who understands! I'm in desperate need of a girl's night." She kicked off her shoes and bounced on the bed, then patted the space next to her. "So be it. You're my sister for the night. Have a seat."

Maren crouched down to untie her boots, then placed them near the door. "All right. Tell me all the stories you've been dying to tell." She took a seat. Anna had crossed her legs on top of the bed and was grinning in a way only people who were scheming something ever did.

_She and Elsa are like fire and water, at first glance,_ _but…_

There was something to the two she couldn't quite put her finger on – the same eagerness to please, the same anxious little tics, little things that told her that despite seeming like screaming opposites, the two had more in common than they had differences. It made Maren think of Ryder and herself, of how she liked dancing where he was clumsy, of how he liked fishing where she lacked the patience.

Of how they were both scared of any unexpected glistening of metal. Of how they both had light steps and a habit of speaking in hushed tones.

She had a sense that Anna and Elsa had, perhaps, been hurt the same way.

"Oh I could go on for hours about the joys and horrors of motherhood, starting with how hard it was to move that baby from here," she pointed to her belly, "to there. But no. When Elsa refused my invitation but sent you instead, she therefore agreed with being the subject of our talking for the whole night. So, tell me, who is it?"

Maren blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"The suitor! Which one of you is wooing my sister?" Anna was drumming her closed fists on her lap. "Don't keep me waiting!"

The question was such a shock to Maren, she couldn't catch her stupid answer before it came out. "You don't know?!" She realized her mistake a moment too late. "But I thought – I mean – I just –"

"So there _is_ someone!" She spoke so loud, Maren was afraid she'd wake the baby. True to his reputation, Agnarr remained asleep. "That absolute bastard! Oh, Maren, I love my sister, but she is just _impossible_ sometimes. Can you believe she writes me pages and pages about the trees and the lakes and the mountains – I could pile it all into a geography textbook at this point – and drops me ONE measly line about her love life?!"

Maren nodded very slowly. "I can believe that. That does sound like Elsa."

"She was just," Anna rolled her eyes and raised her arms, made quoting signals with her fingers. "Oh Anna, what does it mean when someone calls you a heartbreaker?" Anna arched an eyebrow, gestured with her hands, "So I tell her the obvious, and can you guess what she replied me with?!"

_Don't blush,_ Maren told herself over and over. "Uhm. More idyllic descriptions of nature?"

"Yes!" Anna slammed her palms on the bed. "And then a 'Your advice has proven most accurate and useful. Thank you, sister. Love, Elsa'. What does that even mean?! It tells me nothing!"

Maren couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. The situation was surreal, tragic, hilarious, and _oh this is what you get, Maren, when you let yourself fall for a creature of legends. _"I'm sorry, Queen Anna, this is just –"

"Drop the 'queen'. Sisters for the night, remember? And tell me _who is it! _Who made the first move? Was there a first move, even? Did they kiss? Oh by the gods, did they kiss?!" Anna shook her head. "Never mind, the important things first, I need a name."

"I can't tell you that!" Maren rubbed her face with her hands, partly in exasperation, partly to cover her burning cheeks. "I can keep a secret, remember?"

"Oh come _on_. No one can actually keep a secret. Look –" Agnarr interrupted them with a small yawn, which Anna reacted to by eyeing him and smiling. She still had the softest expression when she turned back to Maren. "Okay, I get it. She's your friend. Fine. But give me a hint, at least. It's not telling me if I figure it out myself, right?"

Maren made an indistinguishable sound of suffering and let herself fall on the mattress. "Did you ask her about it?"

"Of course I asked her about it! Over and over. For the last twenty letters or so. I've been sending them every day. She replies to each one of them with detailed facts about the local birds. The _nerve_ of that woman. We are sisters and nothing alike."

"You are sisters and very much alike," Maren quipped. "Look, maybe… maybe there's a reason she doesn't want you to know."

"Other than Elsa being Elsa, I cannot think of any."

Maren sighed, rolled to her side to face Anna. "Maybe it's someone she's afraid you wouldn't approve of." She felt a twinge of anxiety, shoved it to the back of her mind. "Someone unexpected."

"My first fiancée tried to kill me, and my husband was raised by trolls," Anna deadpanned. "Is her suitor plotting her murder? Troll upbringing is acceptable."

"No!" Maren had to bite back a snort. "Look, yes, point taken, it's just…"

Anna sighed. "Never mind. As much as I want to know, it's clearly making you uncomfortable. I'll nag Elsa about it some more."

_She's so nice. _Maren felt a little of her resistance crumble. "They did kiss, I'll give you that."

She shouldn't have. Anna was fiendishly smart when she wanted to be, she and Elsa had that in common, and Maren realized her mistake when Anna's mouth fell into a gape and she could almost hear the gears turning inside her brain.

"She would never tell you that. She'd never tell _anyone_ that, not even me. If Elsa had her way, I'd find out she's kissing someone from her wedding invite." Anna tapped her chin. "Which means you heard from the other person. But that's not the kind of thing you just tell people, either. I know my sister. She wouldn't fall for the kind of guy to brag. Must be someone close to you." Her eyes glistened. "It's your brother."

_In for a pine, in for the whole gods-damned pine tree, I suppose. _"It's… not my brother, but that is a good line of thought."

"Damn it! I thought I had it for sure –" She raised her palm in the air as if to stop herself. "Wait. That wouldn't be unexpected, though, would it? Ryder is a cute guy who loves reindeer. It would be the proof of a family preference, even." Anna crossed her arms, tapped her index finger on her skin over and over. "Unexpected. Unexpected. Unexp –" She raised her head, mouth hanging wide. "It's you."

Maren blinked, but didn't reply. Apparently, her silence was answer enough.

"Holy fuck –" Anna cut herself short, covered her mouth, looked at the baby. "Holy… fudge. It _is_ you. You kissed my sister. Oh my go –"

"She kissed me!"

"HOLY FUCK." This time Agnarr did wake, wailing, and Anna jumped off the bed, picked him up and started pacing around the room. "It makes sense, Elsa never paid attention to men – I can't imagine what it must have been like to her, the expectation to pick a king – Elsa, why do you never TELL me things – I can't believe she made the first move –"

Anna hopped from one foot to the other, from one thought to the other. She was having a meltdown, and like most of her emotions, it was contagious. Maren felt the anxiety return tenfold, squeezing at her chest, as suffocating as the tight spaces between the houses in Arendelle made her feel. "So…" she looked at Anna, sheepish. "Do you…approve?"

"Approve?" Anna stood still for a moment, rocked the baby in her arms and hummed, and then she was back with her pacing. "Approve?! I am thrilled! And furious! You came all the way from the… damn magical woods to cover for Elsa's babysitting duties. I should have been treating you as family!"

"I – weren't you?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!" Anna threw her arms up, just a little, enough that Agnarr made a squeak of surprise. "Do you know how long I have been waiting for Elsa to bring a date home? And just look at you! You're – " she moved the baby to lean on her shoulder, then used her free hand to gesticulate vaguely. "All responsible and polite and dutiful, but not too stuck up to handle my sister's crazy antics. You're perfect! And we are the same size. _We could have been lending each other dresses!_"

"We… have very different tastes. But sure?" Maren had been bunching and un-bunching the bedsheets in her fists, and she made a conscious effort to stand still and take slow, deep breaths.

"The point, Maren!" Anna turned Agnarr around and he stared at Maren with wide eyes. "Elsa knows me. She knew I wouldn't let you leave without digging for answers. So instead of replying to all my nagging she just – just outright delivers her answer to my door – It's settled. I am going to _kill_ her. Oh Kristoff is going to love hearing this –"

"He will?" She sat up.

"Yes. More reindeer people in family gatherings." Anna rolled her eyes. "He had this whole scary speech prepared to give whichever mad bastard went for my sister and now he'll have to throw it away. It would be rude to do that to a girl, Kristoff is a very gentle soul, and besides he's a little scared of you."

It was too much information to process at once. Maren felt as if she had been run over by a dozen carts which then turned around and ran her over again. She told herself to seize the moment. "So… how do I… you know. Talk to her about it? You know her better. I'm a little at loss. I don't know how arendellians do things."

Anna halted. Stood perfectly still. "You're telling me she kissed you," her tone was dangerous, "And then she sent you here. To meet her family. And she did not properly court you?"

"That is a negative way of putting it," Maren rubbed her nape. "We had a moment. It was… special. But we didn't talk about it again, and I'm not sure what to do from here except I really like her and she _does_ look like a real heartbreaker, so –" Anna walked to her, handed her the baby. Maren took him in her arms, and he reached out to touch her face.

She smiled. He smiled back. It was almost enough to distract her from the sounds of Anna furiously marching around the room and dragging a chair. "I'm going to kill her. I am going to –"

Maren put the baby on her lap and watched Anna write a strongly worded letter, knowing nothing she said could change Anna's mind.

_Her sister is the fifth spirit, _ she mused, making faces at Agnarr, _but she is the real force of nature._


	4. Chapter 4

When Maren came back from fishing, she found Elsa by the campfire, absently making and unmaking tiny snow sculptures of birds. She put down the net she had been carrying on her back and waved.

"Maren."

"Oh, hey." She knelt by a basket and pushed it open. Fishing was her least favorite activity when it involved fishing rods and sitting still for extended periods of time, but she didn't mind retrieving the nets for her brother occasionally. She smiled to Elsa. "Always good to see you."

Elsa was sitting on a low bench made of pure ice, unreadable as always, tapping her finger over and over. "I heard from Anna."

"Oh no. No, no, no. Absolutely not." Maren untied the net open and grabbed her spear. "We are _not_ having a conversation that starts with a letter from Anna without me sitting down. So you're going to have to wait for me to be done with the fish."

Elsa graced her with the slightest of smiles. "Do you need help with that?"

Maren ran a fish through with her spear and moved it to the basket. "Nah. I got this. We're having fish for dinner, if you want." She took the opportunity to get an answer to a question that had been nagging in her mind. "Do you need to eat at all?"

"Do I – huh." Elsa crossed her arms and stared off into space for a couple seconds. "I don't know, actually."

"You don't know? How can you not know that?"

"Well, I… I didn't really stop eating? When I first…" she hesitated. Maren kept on working but gave her a nod to let her know she was still listening. "A few years ago, when I froze Arendelle over – you know that story, don't you?"

"Not from you, I don't."

There was a long moment of silence, but they were comfortable enough with each other that Maren didn't feel the need to fill it. She finished moving the fish save for the last two, which she saved for dinner. She stuck the spear on the ground and moved to get a knife.

"I…" Elsa began, stopped, sighed. "It feels a little like an itch. The magic, I mean. Except it never passes, it just grows stronger and stronger, this need to – to create. Like hunger or sleep. I need to let it out, to build things, to let it flow, else it keeps swirling inside me, suffocating, until it's all I can think about and I start going a little mad." She shook her head. "I don't know if I'm making any sense."

Maren smiled, arched her eyebrows. "You're an artist."

"I'm – what?"

"An artist. That's an artist's impulse. I dabble in a bit of sculpting myself, I get the urge sometimes. But you should see Yelana. If she goes too long without painting, she gets insufferable." Maren sat down near the fire, grabbed the knife and began scraping the scales off the fish. "It's like you said. Food, but for the soul."

"An artist." Elsa looked at her hands, spun her index finger, watched a little flurry form. There was a change in her eyes then, and she raised her gaze with a genuine smile. "Thank you."

Maren caught herself beaming back at her, felt her cheeks burn and forcibly returned her attention to making dinner. "You're welcome." It was a rare thing for Elsa to open up, and so she decided to push a little further. "So, what about the itch?"

"My… parents weren't as understanding as you." She closed her hands into fists, dispelling the snowflakes. "I – thinking back to it, what with the way my grandfather saw magic, it's no surprise that father shared his fear, particularly after I - this isn't easy." She shrugged. "The itch went unscratched… for a very long time."

Maren dug a small hole on the ground. "Recipe for disaster?"

Elsa nodded. She was rubbing her hands together, downcast. "I suppose. There was more to it. They kept me away from Anna… from everyone, really. I don't –" She made brief eye contact, then looked away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Maren acquiesced. She cut the fish open, dumped the entrails on the hole and used her foot to push earth over it so that animals wouldn't catch the scent. "So, food?"

She shrugged. "I didn't need it, when I spent a week on an ice castle in the mountain. I guess I've been eating out of habit." She clenched her jaw and looked away.

_It makes you feel human,_ Maren frowned, considered her next words carefully. "Well, I'm glad I get to cook for you." She smiled. "Just don't get anywhere near Ryder's food. He's awful." Elsa gave her a grateful face and a nod. Maren finished salting the fish, then put them over the fire and stretched her arms. "You mentioned Anna wrote."

"Anna." Elsa licked her lips, an uncharacteristic malice in her eyes. She stood, walked over to Maren. "Anna thinks I've been very rude to you. That I should, and I quote, 'court you like a proper queen'." Elsa swirled her finger and a crystal rose appeared in the air. She took it, bent down and carefully slid it on top of Maren's hat. "Like so."

"I –" She took a deep, shaky breath, considered whether she should stand up. "You don't have to. I mean, if you want to, that would be fantastic, but. I don't mean to pressure you." She couldn't meet Elsa's eyes. "I just – I like your company, that's all. We're good friends. It's not like I want to be introduced as the royal consort or anything."

Elsa laughed, then crouched down to match her height. Even so, she was taller. She slid a hand under Maren's chin, tilted it up and pressed their lips together for a split second, then pulled away, fingers moving to trace Maren's jaw. "And this?"

Her heart was drumming so hard it hurt. It took her a moment to remember how to speak. "This. This is nice, too."

"Mhm." Elsa arched a single eyebrow, her face maddingly impassive, then sat down next to her. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so…erratic."

Maren tentatively brushed her fingers against Elsa's. There was no recoil, so she rubbed her thumb against Elsa's knuckles. "You are, though, aren't you? Erratic. A little weird. I think it's beautiful." Elsa interlaced their fingers. Maren felt giddy. "And I think… well. Since you are that way, you might as well mean it."

Elsa stared at her, scrutinized her, then bent her head and leaned it against Maren's chest. Maren made a strangled sound of surprise, and Elsa chuckled. "We should do it."

Maren straightened her back and caught her breath. Her mind had far too many ideas about what 'it' could be, so she decided to play it safe. "Do what?"

"Introduce you as the royal consort. I don't see why not. If you want to, of course."

"Oh." Maren tentatively wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm puzzled by the idea, really. I was under the impression that you found the formalities of monarchy suffocating. It sounds like the kind of thing which would be uncomfortable for everyone involved." Maren thought it over. "Except for Anna. Anna would have the time of her life."

Elsa chuckled. She was in a good mood, and not unlike with her sister, it was infectious. "It would. But I think it would be a growing experience for me. I've spent my whole life worried that I was… unnerving people." She bumped their shoulders together. "But you know what? You're right. I'll unnerve them one way or the other, might as well mean it. It's harmless. A little amusing, even."

"Uh." Elsa's head was tucked under Maren's chin. She wanted to bend down, plant a kiss on her scalp. She talked herself in and out of the idea. "I fear I might have just pushed you from forest siren to poltergeist."

Elsa tilted her head up. Grinned. Looked at Maren's lips in a way that was slow and teasing and deliberate. Maren reached up to touch her face, but got her hand slapped away. "Nah-ah. Fish fingers. Disgusting."

"The _nerve_ of y –"

Elsa kissed her again, this time grabbing her shoulder and pressing her weight against her. Maren let herself be pushed down and Elsa rolled on top of her, knocking the air off her lungs. She parted her lips when Elsa licked them, whimpered when Elsa rolled her hips and then moved to kiss her jaw. Maren turned her head to the side, exposed her neck to Elsa's gentle bites –

The fire crackled. Her thoughts were clouded and she forced herself to focus. "I –" _deep breath, count to ten,_ "I need to turn the fish around, so that they don't burn one side and stay raw on the other."

Elsa let out a snarl and threw her arm back. A wave of ice slipped from her fingers, grew into spikes that hit the bonfire and made it sizzle out, plunging them in near complete darkness.

Maren pushed herself halfway up. "No! Elsa! It's the forest in the middle of the night and you just froze dinner and put out the fire –"

Elsa pressed her face into Maren's shoulder and broke into a fit of giggles. Maren laughed too, went down on her back, gasped for breath in between each outburst. "I'm serious!" She tried. Laughed some more. "I'm hungry! It'll get cold! And you never stay the night, what am I supposed to do about the wolves? My hands smell of fish guts!"

Elsa controlled herself, clicked her tongue a few times and followed it with a long whistle. A moment later, blue flame sparkled on the middle of the camping grounds. Maren sat up and went to check on her fish, which was dripping with molten ice. "Soggy dinner," she complained, flipping it around so it could finish cooking.

She went for her pack, picked up her bedroll and extended it. Elsa watched her from the ground, where she sat hugging her knees, cheek resting on top of them, a sly smile curling up her lips.

"Why did it take you so long?" Maren sat next to the cushion, wondering about how to offer it to Elsa in a way that she would accept. "Or is this how it is going to be, hmm?" she bumped her shoulder on Elsa's. "You kiss me once a year?"

Elsa shrugged. "I'm shy."

_You've got to be kidding me._ "Should I have made a move, then?"

Elsa lifted her head, slowly, eyes narrowed, smile widening just enough to show her teeth, and _oh, she knows what she is doing. She knows how to be unnerving. _"No." She tilted her head to the side, just a little, and the light from the campfire cast odd shadows on her face. "Make no mistake. I am shy, but I am still the hunter. I am still the queen."

Her voice had dropped in pitch just enough to be noticeable. Maren swallowed, pulled off her gloves and unbuttoned her coat, feeling oddly warm. "Is this how it is for Arendellians, then? A hunt?"

"This is how it is to me." She licked her lips, then stretched, and the vague, menacing energy around her dispelled so fast it made Maren dizzy. Elsa picked Maren's hat from where it had fallen on the ground, dusted it clean and placed it on her head. "I think your fish is done."

It was, and the two ate in silence, their arms and hands occasionally touching. When they were done, they wiped their hands clean and Maren opened her mouth to suggest Elsa take the bedroll, but Elsa spoke first.

"I'll let Anna know we're going, so she can make the preparations."

"If it's no bother."

"You know very well it is anything but." Elsa sighed. "She'll love to hear it. She'll want to dress you up, too, educate you in all manner of pointless etiquette."

"Do you think – " she hesitated. "Will the people take it well? I'm an outsider. I might not know how to behave."

"I'm an outsider, too." Elsa lost her gaze in the fire. "But if it worries you so, I could educate you in proper manners. I know you hold a position of leadership among your – among our people. Might be useful for you to know, one way or the other."

"I'd like that." Maren bit her bottom lip, trying to figure out how to ask the obvious, screaming question. "Elsa. Will that make me… will that make us…" she trailed off. She had no idea how to finish that sentence, no clue about the significance of that foreign rite. "That makes us what?"

Elsa let out a long groan. "It's complicated. Were I still queen, my suitors and then my marriage would need to be allowed by my parents. Since they're gone, the approval would depend on the parliament. A princess, though, only needs the queen's approval. That's why I had to go back to Arendelle before abdicating. To save Anna and Kristoff the bureaucratic nightmare they'd have to go through otherwise." She rolled her eyes. "The opposite applies. I gave up the throne, but I'm still princess. So, odd as that is, you need to… ask Anna whether you can court me."

Her distaste for the entire concept was evident. Maren blinked. "Right. I have to impress Anna, then. And, suppose she allows me to vie for your affections –" Elsa scowled, and Maren had to hold back a snort, "Then what?"

"Then you're a royal suitor. Courting process usually lasts a couple years, in which the queen-approved suitors all try to win the heart of the princess."

"Great. Competition"

"Mmhm. You better start worrying about those fish hands." Playfulness was a rare thing, from her, and Maren couldn't help but think it suited her well. "The princess gradually sends the suitors home, until only one remains. That'll be the royal consort, up to when they get married."

"If Anna lets you," Maren teased, and Elsa snarled in response. She laughed, reached out for Elsa's hand. "Wow. I cannot see how any of that would bring you happiness."

"It didn't. I felt trapped all the fucking time."

"That's the first time I've seen you curse," Maren pointed out, smiled a little. "Thank you."

"For cursing?"

"For letting me in." She leaned, rested her head on Elsa's shoulder, played with her fingers. "Absurdity aside," she struggled to put her feelings into words, "What are we?"

"I don't know. Putting labels on things makes me anxious. I like you. Isn't that enough?"

Maren scoffed. Elsa wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her scalp. She shivered at Elsa's gentle nuzzling and closed her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I think it is."

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing this story!


	5. Chapter 5

Maren tried on a dozen of Anna's dresses before finally settling for a much simpler, more comfortable suit. The occasion dictated a hundred of formalities which she knew she should have studied ahead, but instead ended up memorizing poorly the night before. She vaguely regretted this decision every time she took a wild guess on whether to call someone "your excellency" or "your grace".

Anna, bless her soul, was more than happy to cover for both her slip ups and the invariable escapades she needed every time the presence of so many Arendellians became too much. After one hour schmoozing with Arendelle's nobles, Maren was more than ready to leave. After two, she decided Elsa was indeed right in freezing half the continent over. After three, she was seriously considering the possibility of a timely escape by jumping through the window.

Maren was filling what had to be her sixth glass of punch – an admittedly dangerous survival strategy – when she bumped arms with Kristoff. Her brain flip-flopped between 'your majesty' and 'your highness' for a second, but the punch was perhaps a little stronger than what she expected and what came out her mouth instead was just "So, reindeers, huh?"

Kristoff turned to look at her. "Reindeers," he repeated. His suit was similar to hers, but adorned with three times as many unnecessary appendages. His hair had been combed back in a ridiculous fashion. When he turned around to look at the room, Maren could swear she saw the light inside him fade a little. "Reindeers are better than people."

"You can say that again," she muttered and took a sip of her drink. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. It would be overwhelming, being around that many people, but her senses had been thankfully dulled by alcohol. One person was notably absent, and try as she might, she was unable to lessen her anxiety. "Do you think she'll show?"

"Elsa?" He shrugged. "It would be just like her to miss her own courtship announcement, except I don't think she'll leave you hanging. She just takes her sweet time, that's all –" There was a loud banging as the large wooden doors were thrown open, knocking a pair of nobles on the way. The room was abruptly filled with frosty wind. "Speak of the devil. Or, well. The spirit."

Elsa walked in, clad in a dress of pure white. The cloth, if it were even cloth, seemed to flow over her body in constantly shifting flurries of ice. Her hair had been made into a complicated updo held together by long pins of ice, and her hands were covered by simple purple gloves that did not match the rest of the outfit and made the whole picture jarring.

The people fell into silence when she walked in, slowly, face expressionless, blue eyes of piercing white. She made a dismissive gesture with her hand and the door slammed shut. Half the nobles jumped at the sound. The other half seemed too stunned to move.

_And here's the queen_, Maren watched her move, bits of ice forming around her feet. The people shivered when she passed, yet no one dared break the silence that gripped them like a held breath, until –

"Elsa!" Anna pushed a pair of men from her way and ran to her sister at a speed that should not be possible for someone in high heels. When Elsa spotted her, part of the hardness melted away from her face, and her lips curled into the lightest of smiles.

She opened her arms and caught Anna's half-hug, half tackle. With the spell of Elsa's presence broken, the room broke into murmurs at first, and then full blown conversation.

"Look at that entrance," Kristoff elbowed Maren on the ribs and grinned. "And I thought Anna was one for theatricals. Your girl is quite the hurricane, isn't she?"

_My girl_, the thought made her blush more than usual and she blamed it on the punch. Maren cleared her throat. "She's like a cat," she shrugged. "Makes herself big and scary when she feels threatened."

Kristoff patted his hand on her shoulder. He was large enough that even the goofy gesture almost threw her off balance. "Well, you should…" he hesitated. "Damn it. This is hard because you're not a guy. I don't know what advice to give."

"Try me. I'm already in a suit, anyway."

"You know, just," He looked at her, grinned, and she realized from the way his movements were careless that his survival in the party was as alcohol-dependent as her own. "Just. Be strong and mean around her so she feels safe, you know? Puff up your chest. Have a big presence. Snarl at the nobles! Scares the predators away and whatnot."

"Is that what you do around Anna?" Maren could not stop herself from grinning.

He gave a very serious nod, and then deflated and chuckled. "That's what Anna does so _I _feel comfortable, more like." He shook his head. "Sorry. I'm just trying to be a cool, manly guy."

"Sweet and goofy suits you better," she elbowed him back.

He smiled, took a sip from his glass. "So I'm told." He put his drink down. "Look, I don't know if what works for _my_ Arendellian sister will work for _your_ Arendellian sister –"

"Possibly. They aren't that different."

"Exactly!" He nodded, excited. "So what I do when Anna is not having a good time is I square up my shoulders and lift my chin, yeah? To show I'm not intimidated by the angry face –"

"Uh huh."

" – as if it weren't the most terrifying thing I've seen in my life. And I walk up to her and I give her one big, tight hug." He stumbled forward, wrapped his arms around Maren and squeezed. "Like this. Big tight hug."

"Oof," Maren bumped her forehead on Kristoff's shoulder and laughed. "I get it, I get it." He let her down and she steadied herself on the table, still giggling. "Okay." She looked at Elsa next to her sister, talking to a couple ambassadors whose crests she did not recognize.

"Shouldn't have crammed the whole etiquette booklet in a night," she muttered, then patted Kristoff on the shoulder. But Anna was around and Maren's head was fuzzy, so she decided to count on her for a save. "Thanks, Kristoff."

She could tell Elsa was uncomfortable because of the erratic shifts in her body language – sometimes over the top expressive and then immediately stiff and retracted – and she could tell by the way Elsa's laughter was too quiet, at the wrong pitch. But mostly, she could tell it because of the gloves.

The gloves bothered her, not just because Elsa had beautiful hands, but because she'd hinted before at their significance. Maren hadn't asked for the full story – she found that Elsa would grant her that by her own will when she felt comfortable sharing – but the way Anna's eyes kept drifting to the purple cloth told her all she needed to know.

She approached Elsa from behind, gently touched her on the shoulder and waited for Elsa to turn and recognize her. When she saw Elsa's lips curl into a smile in recognition, she wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her from behind. Elsa was taller, but Maren had just enough height to rest her chin on Elsa's shoulder.

"Oh." Elsa tensed for a moment, then Maren felt her exhale and her muscles relax.

Anna looked at them, then at the ambassadors who were exchanging glances of confusion and awe, then back at them and rolled her eyes so quick Maren could have missed it. "Ah! Gentlemen, what a rare thing to witness. This is a traditional way for the Northruldan to greet a revered spirit."

She could _feel_ Elsa's grin widen at the sloppy excuse, and though she could not see it from her position, she could perfectly visualize the glint of mischief in her eyes. "I was looking for you, Honey."

"- Maren," Anna completed. "Honeymaren. That's her name. To which Honey is a perfectly adequate nickname, among the Northruldan. Maren, meet Quinn of Corona and Cedric, from Enchancia."

"Pleased to meet you, Honeymaren of the Northrulda." One of the men extended his hand, and Maren reluctantly let go of Elsa and stepped forward to shake it. "I would love to hear more of your culture."

"Our culture," Anna smiled, but her tone was sharp. "We share blood with them, Elsa and I, though we only learned that recently. I'm still educating myself on our values. You know what I appreciate the most, though?" Anna caught Maren's eyes, glaring daggers at her. "How important it is to _not ruin a surprise." _

There was some vindictive joy in watching Anna struggle to cover up their intimacy, and Maren allowed herself to have that bit of fun in an otherwise exhausting scenery.

"How do you like the party so far?" Elsa wrapped one arm around her shoulder. Anna scowled at the two, sticking out her tongue after making sure the ambassadors weren't looking.

"A bit overwhelming," she admitted, leaning onto Elsa's shoulder. "I like the music, though." She trailed her eyes to the corner of the room, where a man played the piano. It was the first time she'd seen one, and the sound was an absolute marvel.

Elsa turned, looked at her. "The piano? It is a delightful instrument."

"Oh, Elsa, play her a song!" Anna chirped with a sly smile. "Elsa is such a good player, Maren, I used to sit by the door and listen to her practice for hours! She's got the most skilled fingers, I'm sure you must have noticed –"

"Anna!" Elsa snapped, and Maren saw a tint of pink to her cheeks. She cleared her throat. "It's been a while since I last played, that's all."

"Nonsense," One of the ambassadors, whose name she'd already forgotten, waved her off. "Playing the piano is like skiing – once learned, one can never forget it."

"It's not," Elsa muttered under her breath. "It requires a lot of continued effort. And I don't even have sheets. I'd miss so many notes, playing things by ear."

"Still," Maren touched Elsa's fingers which currently rested on her shoulder. "I'd like to see it. Doesn't have to be perfect. And you're so good when you sing. You have a great ear, I'm sure it'll be fantastic."

"I –"

"Come on, sister," Anna tugged Elsa by the wrist. "Wouldn't want to disappoint our very special guest, would you?"

"Fine," Elsa hissed through her teeth, and Anna clapped her hands in delight.

Maren watched her walk to the piano and gently tap the pianist on the shoulder. He interrupted the music to hear her, and a moment later, he stood to let Elsa take his seat. Elsa carefully pressed a key, then the one next to it and the next, until she'd gone through one full scale. She stepped on one of the piano's three pedals and did it again, and Maren noticed with fascination that the notes hung in the air much longer.

Elsa pulled off her gloves and rested them on top of the piano, then cracked her fingers. She played a single rich, grave note, and the room immediately fell into silence. And then she struck the note again with her left hand and started the song. She alternated between a grave and a small, ascending scale at first, picking up speed with impeccable precision.

"Wow," Maren muttered, starstruck, awed by the sheer melancholy conveyed on these first few seconds. The pianist who played before was good, but Elsa conveyed emotion with the softness she pressed the keys and the press-and-release of the pedals.

"You've seen nothing," Anna stood next to Maren, grinning, a glass of punch between her fingers. "Wait until she gets into it."

There was a tension to the music, the way the notes climbed up and then were abruptly broken by a low note immediately followed by a high only to climb back to the low. It made Maren hold her breath, and as she watched, Elsa closed her eyes and began swaying her body. With each cycle, the scale got higher, until Elsa cycled three high notes over and over and then slammed her hand on the key.

A bright beam of magic shot from her fingers up to the roof and exploded into gentle snowflakes. Elsa's left hand played a loop of grave notes over and over, while the right led a quick-paced melody. Frost began covering the walls, with delicate fractals etching over its surface.

"Holy f-" Maren cut herself short, reminded herself she was in a formal situation, " – wow."

Every now and then, she'd strike the keys with more strength than usual and produce a ripping deep sound, and when she did it, the shapes on the walls would change pattern, from circles to intricate branching lines to spirals. The guests gaped. Anna hummed the melody under her breath. "I love this one."

Elsa climbed a whole scale with each hand, and the juxtaposition made it seem like the notes were chasing each other. Then she played several high notes in a row and paused for a split second, just enough for it to seem like the song might end –

She hit her right hand on the keys hard, the sound echoing in the room and sending shivers up Maren's spine, then repeated the initial melody but faster. The frost crawled from the walls to around the candles that lit the room, and the ice wrapping itself around them made the light decompose into rainbows that flickered over the guest's faces.

_This is magical,_ Maren thought as a thick mist began rising from the floor. She turned to Anna, eyes wide in a mix of confusion and reverence, and when Anna noticed, she gave Maren a thumbs up and mouthed out _'Enjoy'. _

And then she was gone, the fog vanishing her entirely even though they were barely two steps away. Being lost in a mist would have given Maren anxiety, except she could still hear the piano and still see Elsa play. The sounds somehow seemed louder, and she was sure there was laughter with them, and sculptures of pure light took shape around her.

She turned around to follow their bouncing and shifting, from trees to rocks to reindeer to horses and castles. The song slowed down and so did the shapes. When Maren finished turning a full circle around herself, she was met with a silhouette, a ghostly projection of Elsa's shape who gently took her hand.

Maren felt her heart quicken, though whether it was at the cold touch or because the music suddenly picked up again, she did not know. Elsa – the real, physical version – looped the song's high-pitched melody over and over. The phantom raised Maren's hand above her head, placed another hand on her waist and stepped sideways, pulling Maren with her into a dance.

Maren knew dancing, but not like that. Elsa stopped playing with her right hand and looped the same deep four notes with her left. After seven rounds of it, she resumed playing with her right, a slightly different melody. The ghost whooshed her around the ballroom, led a dance that sometimes missed other guests by mere inches.

The music slowed down, and so did their steps. The mood, previously a crescendo that made her tremble with energy, shifted to a deep melancholy. The light projection guided her into a rhythm, right foot ahead, spin, left foot back, spin, side step, and then over and over again. And then the song descended into lower notes like a staircase and Maren held her breath in trepidation.

The phantom Elsa took a step back from her, held both her hands at waist height, then raised the right one and led her through a half-spin that halted with her back to the ghost's arm. Then there was a rich, high pitched note, and suddenly Maren felt a warm breath on her nape and her hand was gripped with much more strength as she was led backwards into the spin.

When she turned around, Elsa, the real, physical version, had switched places with her double and was smiling at her. One of Elsa's hands looped around her waist. The music melted back into the original melody, and the two were moving again, faster and faster. Elsa pushed her back and then yanked her close again, leading her into a loop as she did it.

Elsa leaned forward, pushed her, and Maren let her weight fall against Elsa's arms only to be pulled back up and into another spin. The music entered its final stage, repeating its four high notes and then descending into grave ones which used less and less keys, until the very last sound faded into silence.

Elsa grabbed her face, fingers tight over her jawline, and pulled her into a kiss.

The mist fell away like a curtain, and the room burst into a roar of cheers and applause.

"Gentlefolk," Anna rose her voice loud enough to be heard despite the noise, and the guests went quiet, "Introducing Honeymaren of the Northrulda, with my blessings, your newest royal suitor."

The crowd broke into a murmur and Maren felt her cheeks heat up again. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, even though the speech she'd prepared the night before in between cramming sessions eluded her. Elsa wrapped one arm around her waist and winked at her sister. Anna replied by rolling her eyes and nodding, and Elsa made a quick motion with her arm.

The two were swept by a wind that picked them off the floor, spinning, and took them through the castle doors and into the city. Maren clung on for dear life while Elsa laughed, until they finally came to a stop by the pier. Her heart drummed in exhilaration and raw adrenaline. She tripped, almost fell into the water, the world still spinning under her feet.

Elsa grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her close. "Thank you for coming today and bearing with all this… theatrics."

"It wasn't so bad." Maren leaned against her chest.

"Really?"

"Nah. It was pretty awful. Let's never do this again. Except for the piano part. That was really nice." She hid her face on the crook of Elsa's neck. "I'm tipsy."

"I noticed." She snorted. Maren felt her cold fingers on her nape and shivered. She tilted her head up, and Elsa kissed her scalp. "Do you want to go home? I can take you through… well, magic wind. We'd get there really quick."

"No!" Maren jumped. "No more magic wind. Anna has a room prepared for me."

Elsa laughed, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind Maren's ear, hand lingering to stroke her cheek. "Stay on mine. Let me hold you to sleep. I –" She looked away, paused. "I don't like sleeping alone. Not here." Another pause. "Hurts."

"Yeah, sure. But no cold feet on me."

"No promises."

"You're awful." Maren rubbed her eyes. "Won't the nobles gossip about it in the morning?"

"Possibly." Elsa shrugged. "Fuck them."

"Ha."

"Let Anna deal with them. She had far too much fun tonight." Elsa's fingers combed the short curls on the base of her head. Maren felt a dull ache on her chest.

"Elsa?"

"Mm?"

"I –" Maren cut herself short, hesitated. Some things were better said sober, and spirits of the forest were easy to scare away. "Do you know how to make coffee?" she asked instead.

"I – huh. Yes." Elsa blinked. "It's not the best coffee, but it's. A coffee. I suppose. Why?"

"Have to introduce you to my parents," she mumbled. "You need someone to speak in your favour, I, uh, Ryder could do that. And then you ask to make them coffee. That's how you show you're, um, courting me."

"Oh."

"And I have to stay outside and… unsaddle your reindeer. To show I like you, too." She considered that for a moment. "I suppose your water elemental horse works, too."

"Nokk doesn't wear a saddle."

_Of course he doesn't,_ Maren thought, _And I just asked the fifth spirit if she knows how to make coffee. _"We'll figure something out. Maybe I'll make him a nice… necklace. Of… seashells. Or something."

"We'll figure something out," Elsa echoed. "Can't be much worse than this mess I dragged you into. Although, I'll say," She pulled away, ran her eyes over Maren from head to toe. "You do look nice in a suit."

Again the burning on her ears. Again the squeeze in her heart. "Thank you. You do look nice on… anything. You look nice, period."

"Flatterer."

"I just have eyes."

"You're adorable." Elsa held her face again, but instead of going for a kiss, she just bumped their noses together and rubbed them, then pulled away. "Fuck."

"What?"

"Feelings."

"What does that even mean?"

Elsa shrugged. "Nothing I'm ready to talk about. We should get going. It's late and it's getting chilly. Wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

"You're like a walking blizzard," Maren pointed out.

"Which supports my point – that you shouldn't be exposing yourself to extra chills." Maren stuck out her tongue. Elsa whacked her gently on the head. "Stubborn. Don't talk back to me."

"Bite me."

"Only between walls."

"I – what?" Her brain tried to catch up, but Elsa's laughter broke her concentration.

"Nothing." Elsa turned around, a smirk on her lips, and started walking back to the castle.

"No, seriously, what does that _mean?" _Maren chased behind her.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Elsa winked, "When the alcohol wears off in the morning."


	6. Chapter 6

The castle was oddly well illuminated, considering it was the middle of the night. Maren followed the long corridor until it ended, always keeping her left hand to the wall so that she'd know how to come back. She hadn't planned on a late escapade, but she woke up thirsty from overdoing the alcohol and even though Elsa had been thoughtful enough to keep water in the bedroom, Maren's headache wouldn't let her get back to sleep.

She stopped by the steps of a long staircase, touched the pristine rail, looked back to Elsa's room. She wasn't used to buildings that big, and in the quiet darkness, the place felt oddly hollow. A few paintings on a side corridor caught her eyes, and she made her way to them, almost spooking herself off her skin when she crossed a mirror and jumped at the movement of her own reflection.

With the moonlight shining through the balcony's glass door, she had no trouble identifying the faces of Elsa, Anna and Kristoff, posing next to Olaf and Sven. Anna's wide smile contrasted sharply with the small curl of Elsa's lips, her expression cold and formal, posing in a pristine white dress.

And then, next to it, something even more fascinating: a picture of the sisters, much younger this time, and a couple which Maren assumed were their parents. It was a bit surreal, seeing a child version of Elsa, mostly because Maren had never given thought to what she must have been as a kid. On impulse, she reached out to brush her fingers against the canvas –

"Do you think I've changed a lot?"

"Aah! Motherfu-" Maren covered her own mouth, muffled her high-pitched yelp, heart drumming, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Why aren't you asleep? And how do you even move so quietly?!"

"I float in the air so you can't hear my footsteps." Elsa smiled, bumped their shoulders, and Maren honestly could not tell whether she was being serious. "And," she shrugged, "I don't usually sleep very well. I could ask the same of you."

"I have a hangover," Maren admitted, shoved her hands on her pockets to warm them, turned back to Elsa. She compared the person in the pictures to the woman standing before her. "You look… happier, I think."

"Hm." There was something to her expression, the way she set her jaw and narrowed her eyes, that made Maren feel there were words unspoken.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Elsa stared at the paintings for a second longer before blinking and turning to Maren, as if only just realizing she was there. "No. No, I was just…" She sighed. "Is it wrong to resent my parents?"

They were going into uncharted territory, and Maren hesitated. "Probably not. Parents usually mean well with children, but often the intentions matter less than the results." She paused. "Is that something you'd like to talk about? Your parents?"

Elsa turned around, walked to the balcony doors and pushed them open with practiced ease. Maren followed her outside, into the cold nip of the wind. Below them, Arendelle slept. "I'm not sure what there is to say." She leaned against the balcony rail. "I have a hard time talking feelings."

It wasn't an outright refusal, so Maren decided to push a little further. "You think too much. Just say whatever comes to mind." She elbowed Elsa on the ribs. "I'm your official suitor now, you can share."

Elsa snorted. "Whatever comes to mind."

"Yes. I won't judge." She touched the back of her hand to Elsa's, let her interlace their fingers. "What is it about your parents?"

"They fucked me up."

Maren blinked. "That's an eloquent way of putting it."

"You said you wouldn't judge," Her tone was accusing but she gave Maren a playful smile. "They did, though. Fuck me up, I mean. Keeping me away from the world, from my sister, making me feel as if there was something wrong with me. Making me feel…" Her gaze was lost on the horizon. Maren waited for her to finish. "…less than human."

Maren bumped their shoulders, but didn't speak. She let the words settle down between them, rubbed her thumb on the side of Elsa's hand. Elsa drummed her free fingers on the railing. "Some days, I think they loved me."

"And on the other days?"

"On the other days, I think they loved an idea of me. A person that never existed. Even by the end, when they left to –" She stopped. Maren squeezed her hand. Below them, the ocean's waves ricocheted against walls of stone. "They were always looking for ways so I could adequate myself to… their lives. I'm not sure if they ever looked for ways to make me happy. I'd like to tell myself they just didn't know how."

"But?"

"But they never even asked. And I told myself not to be selfish, but…"

"Your parents should be looking out for you, not the other way around," Maren concluded. She looked at Elsa's stone- face expression, the slightest of frowns creasing her brow, the way her blue eyes were cold and hard.

_Give her a hug,_ Kristoff's voice echoed in her head, clear as day in the middle of blurry memories, and she wrapped an arm around Elsa's waist. Elsa's gaze softened, just a little, and she granted Maren a slight nod.

"Sometimes I catch myself wondering whether they'd be proud of me," Elsa took a deep breath. "And I hate myself for it. Because I'd like to think they would, I tell myself so, but…" She bit her bottom lip. "I shouldn't be telling myself they'd love me for what I am. I should remind myself that _I_ love the way I am, and that the rest shouldn't matter. They're long gone, anyway."

"It's not a bad thing to seek approval," Maren leaned into her chest. "It's only natural. People aren't meant to be alone. And you were just a kid."

"You know what hurts the worst, though?" She was weeping then, glistening tears running on her cheeks, "When the time came, when I had to stand up for myself, I realized I could do it. I could handle the whole world against me. But this? The eternal questioning of whether the one love meant to be unconditional just… wasn't?" She took a deep, shaky breath, wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. "It fucked me up."

Maren looked down to the ocean, where the waves climbed higher, crashed harder against the shore. The cold nip in the air had turned frosty. "It sounds like they could have done a lot of things differently."

Elsa scoffed, cleared her throat. "Yeah. They could. It wasn't even so bad, in the end, look at me," It was a figure of speech, but Maren looked anyway, "This is it. The thing everyone was so terrified of, the plentitude of my magic when I don't repress myself. What do I do with it?" She grit her teeth, exhaled. "Talking snowmen. Ice sculptures. I make _art._ How terrifying." She sighed. "I'm being unfair to them, aren't I?"

"Mmh." Maren considered it for a moment. "For sure. It's an unfair situation all around. I suppose I could defend them, if you want, but I'm here to take your side on things, aren't I?"

"Only if my side is reasonable."

"Well, then. It's reasonable to be angry. Be angry."

"I – thanks." Elsa turned to her, offered a small smile. Maren felt a dull ache in her chest. "For listening. For being by my side. It means the world to me."

"That's because you mean the world to me." And maybe it was the sleep deprivation, the weird moonlight or the remaining traces of alcohol in her blood, but Maren felt especially brave. "I love you."

Elsa's eyes widened, and she took a step back. "I –"

"Nope," Maren raised her palm. "No need to say it back. No panicking. No galloping away on water elementals. I love you. That's it. A statement of fact, if you will. Just accept it. No need for skittish nonsense."

Elsa smiled then, arched an eyebrow at her. "You're spending far too much time with Anna. If you keep that up, you'll end up forgetting that I'm the magical fifth spirit."

"Hardly." She pointed at the ocean below them with her thumb. "Your venting changed the tides entirely. The sailors will be very confused tomorrow."

"Ah, damn it." Elsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath. As she released the air, little by little, the waves calmed. "This place is terrible for me. I can't wait to get back home."

"We should get back to sleep. It'll be a long trip."

"Wait." It was too fast – before Maren could react, Elsa had a hand around her waist, yanking her so that their torsos touched. She ran a thumb over Maren's lips, moved her fingers to unbutton the collar of her shirt, then leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Can't let you get away with being so insolent."

Maren's heart did a little flip. The hints of vulnerability in Elsa's face were entirely gone, replaced by a presence so strong and commanding, it was hard for Maren to even consider what to say. Elsa moved her lips down Maren's throat, and she bit back a whimper. "Got through your ice queen persona, didn't – ah!"

There was a jolt of pain when Elsa bit into her neck, and Maren suddenly felt very warm despite the wind. "Do not talk back to me," Elsa whispered in a low tone that made her legs feel wobbly. She pressed her lips to Maren's again, parted them open with her tongue while running her nails gently over the skin of Maren's nape.

_Shit, _Maren reached back with her hand, grabbed on the railing to steady herself. She kissed back, gasped for breath. Elsa bit her bottom lip, tugged, sent her heart racing so fast she felt dizzy. "Where did you even learn this," Maren half-complained when Elsa trailed her fingers over her spine, making Maren arch her back.

"Diplomacy," she smirked, and her half-lidded stare melted Maren's insides, "I had to travel to foreign nations. Meet interesting dignitaries. Sometimes assassins."

"Assassins?!" Maren pulled back to look her in the eyes, but her face, as always, gave no answer. "You made out with your assassins?"

Elsa grinned, but offered no clarification. "Arendelle has always been suffocating, so I appreciated opportunities to… test my limits. See what I can do. Magically or otherwise."

"I was right, then," Maren pressed a light kiss to her lips, "A real heartbreaker."

"Perhaps. You'll never know. " She stroked Maren's burning cheek, kissed the corner of her mouth. "But your heart, I intend to care for."

"You're warm and soft, when you want to be." She grinned. "Careful about that reputation of yours."

Elsa snarled, kissed her again, this time much rougher. "You speak a lot of bold words," she moved to whisper in her ear, "But you'd let me have my way with you."

"Possibly."

"Definitely," Elsa slid her leg between Maren's, pushed against her, bit into her skin.

"Ah – " she inhaled, "Yes. Definitely."

"Good girl." Elsa pulled back, smiled again, and this time there was genuine joy seeping into her body language, clear as day from the tenderness with which she pressed a kiss to Maren's forehead. "Let's get you inside, Honey. Before I end up needing to fix the ocean again."


End file.
